HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK

Hedi, Uli and their son, Finn, have life sorted out. They take each day as it comes, all the while dreaming of the future. Then, suddenly: Hedi gets stuck. The lift she’s travelling in breaks down – and then her head does, too. All of a sudden, nothing is the same. Hedi and Uli try to hold onto each other, but their world spins out of control. In a last-ditch attempt to rescue their love, they take a trip to Norway. The aim: to be happy again – for 24 hours, at least. With a light touch and tender humour, HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK shows that, for the 30-something generation, love is what it has always been: a very fragile thing. After Hotel Very Welcome, director Sonja Heiss once again demonstrates her exceptional skill in treading the thin line between tragedy and comedy. With great affection for her characters, she explores what happens when “normal life” suddenly comes to an end.

From 1998 to 2006, Sonja Heiss studied at the Munich University of Television and Film. She now lives in Berlin. Her medium-length film Karma Cowboy was screened at numerous international festivals and won the “Prix Regards Neufs” at Nyon’s Visions du Réel festival, as well as the “Young Lion” Bavarian Documentary Film Award. Her short film Christina Without won a number of awards, including the “Short Tiger” from the German Federal Film Board. Hotel Very Welcome, Heiss’ first feature-length fiction film, also served as her graduation film from the University of Television and Film. Heiss’ debut premiered in the “Perspektive Deutsches Kino” section of the 2007 Berlinale and went on to win the First Steps Award, the Audience Prize and a Special Mention from the Jury at the Mannheim/Ludwigshafen Festival of German Film, as well as the “Prix Cinédécouvertes” at the European Film Festival in Brussels. The film was screened at numerous international festivals and was selected for the 2007 Variety Critics’ Choice in KarlovFrom 1998 to 2006, Sonja Heiss studied at the Munich University of Television and Film. She now lives in Berlin. Her medium-length film Karma Cowboy was screened at numerous international festivals and won the “Prix Regards Neufs” at Nyon’s Visions du Réel festival, as well as the “Young Lion” Bavarian Documentary Film Award. Her short film Christina Without won a number of awards, including the “Short Tiger” from the German Federal Film Board. Hotel Very Welcome, Heiss’ first feature-length fiction film, also served as her graduation film from the University of Television and Film. Heiss’ debut premiered in the “Perspektive Deutsches Kino” section of the 2007 Berlinale and went on to win the First Steps Award, the Audience Prize and a Special Mention from the Jury at the Mannheim/Ludwigshafen Festival of German Film, as well as the “Prix Cinédécouvertes” at the European Film Festival in Brussels. The film was screened at numerous international festivals and was selected for the 2007 Variety Critics’ Choice in Karlovy Vary. Its theatrical run covered Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain. From 1998 to 2004, Sonja Heiss worked in advertising as a casting director. In 2003, she began directing advertisements; from 2005 to 2011, she co-directed with Jan Bonny under the name “Sonny & Bonny”. In 2011, Heiss’ much-acclaimed literary debut Das Glück geht aus (“Luck is Running Out”), a collection of short stories, was published by Berlin Verlag/Bloomsbury. She is currently working on her first novel. It has the working title Liebesunterbrechung (“Love, Interrupted”) and is to be published by Kiepenheuer und Witsch. HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK was awarded the 2014 Hessen Film and Cinema Prize for Best Fiction Film.y Vary. Its theatrical run covered Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain. From 1998 to 2004, Sonja Heiss worked in advertising as a casting director. In 2003, she began directing advertisements; from 2005 to 2011, she co-directed with Jan Bonny under the name “Sonny & Bonny”. In 2011, Heiss’ much-acclaimed literary debut Das Glück geht aus (“Luck is Running Out”), a collection of short stories, was published by Berlin Verlag/Bloomsbury. She is currently working on her first novel. It has the working title Liebesunterbrechung (“Love, Interrupted”) and is to be published by Kiepenheuer und Witsch. HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK was awarded the 2014 Hessen Film and Cinema Prize for Best Fiction Film.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY:
2015 HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK
2007 HOTEL VERY WELCOME